Hoof-pad.



1illrvrrnn drains hammer iricn.

Jenn Anson Buon, or nnooKLYN, New YORK.

HUUR-PAD.

SPECIFIGTEON forming part of Letters :Patent No. 677,497, dated July 2, 1901. sppnnuvnsnasprul,1901. 'seen No. 54,246. camina To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that'l, JOHNANSON BUCK, a citizen of the United States, residing atBrooklyn, in the county .of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hoof-Pads, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of hoofpads which are designed to prevent slipping of the horse through the instrumentality of interposed elastic pads between the frogs of the horse and the ground. Hitherto there have been provided hoof-pads extending wholly across the hoof and thickened centrally and at the rear; but these being continuous do not, particularly when rendered smooth by friction with the ground, prevent lateral slipping to the'greatest extent and by covering up the hoof from one shoeing to the next preventthe free circulation of air and water and provide an unnatural environment for the hoof and render it unhealthy and constantly dirty and liable to disease.

The form of horseshoe embodying rubber vheel-pieces inserted therein or Yformed thereon in the process of manufacture leaves the center of the hoot' open to the circulation ol air and also leaves a space between the pads, which is desirable in preventing lateral slipping; but the shoe must be especially constructed and applied to the hoof cold and shaped without heating, while the usual toe-,callrs cannot be secured thereto in Weather requiring` them. Moreover, each of these forms of soft-tread protection for the hoof is expensive, and even the cheapest pads or rubber-tread horseshoes are only to be so considered as compared with those still more costly and are an item of cousiderable expense compared to the normaler average way of shoeiug horses with only a plain set of shoes.

lt is the especial object ot" my invention to produce means operating as a horseshoe-pad which will present every practical and material advantage of any pad hitherto produced, which will shield the horse at the frog and provide yielding cushions thereat, which will leave the main portion of the hoof free and open,as health and cleanliness demand,which will .fire the horse from the toe clear bach to each heel the full and solid support of the or dinar-y horseshoe,with the adaptability for the employment of the usual toe and heel calks when required, which vcan be instantly ad` g'usted by any practical norseshoer without previous experience, which will lit any hoof vwhether of a large or small horse, and which,

further and above all, will be radically cheap in construction, while yet strong and durable and capable of being used for more than one shoeing in the many cases where such is desirable and feasible.

My invention is distinguished over the present state of the art of hoof-pads and soft-tread horseshoes in that it consists,primarily,of two separate heel-pieces provided with means for litting them directly to the inside of the rear ends or heels of the shoe and securing them by the nails which pass through the shoe, and

which said heel-pieces will leave the whole of the-horseshoe uncovered and effectively in contact with the ground and will leave the main body of the hoof open. Secondarily, it

consists of a pair of such heel-pieces mounted upon separate strips of material which may be adjusted beneath the horseshoe and which being separate are mutually and relatively movable', and, tertiarily, it consists in a pair of said heel-pieces especially constructed to offer a yielding cushion at exactly proper and effective points beneath the frog and formed with integral wings or. flanges and mounted upon separate strips of suitable material,

which dan ges and strips iit beneath the horse` shoe and are secu red by the usual horseshoenails, whereby to steady the heel-pieces and' retain them in proper position.

.ln the accompanying drawings, formingl part of this specification, in which like letters i reference designate corresponding parts in both views., Figure l is an inverted plan view of a pair oi heel-pieces comprising, -1y inven-A tion mounted in relation to the horseshoe which is indicated in dotted lines, and Fig. Z is a rear elevation or edge View thereof.

ln the practice of my invention I moldtvfo separate pads or heel-pieces A, each of which is formed with a round or segmental outer edge A and with an inner curve or approximately -shaped edge A2, whereby to formfa rounded radially-projected portion A3, which extends inwardly toward the frog, the rear IOC faces of the pad following in general the line of the said frog, and forward of tins portion the edge A2 Curves inwardly to lorin an increasingly narrow front pe tion A1.

On the outside of each pad or heel-piece, extending from one end ot the rounded outer edge A." to the other, is an integral outwardlyprojeoting flange B of relatively slight thiol-:- ness, formed with a rounded outer edge B", outwardly flaring from the rear ot' the pad forwardly and turned or curved at its front outer corner B2.

Each of the heel-pieces or pads A and its integral flange B is secured upon a strip of leather 0, which follows the contour of the heel-piece and flange nearly to the front edge thereof, where it projects forwardly a slight distance beyond the saine. These stripsare not, howeyer, of a length to reach the toe of the shoe and are separate one from the other. The under faeings or treads ofthe heel-pieces A are roughened throughout the major portion of their area, as shown in Fig. l, and somewhat within the edge or periphery thereof is formed a groove D, through which the pad is secured to the leatherstrip C by means of `any suitable stitching. It will by reference to the drawings be nnders ood that the pads are made in pairs respectively for the right and left sides ot the hoot.

The operation of my invention will be readily understood from the foregoing deseription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the advantages resultant from the use thereof will be manifest to all who are skilledin the art to which it appertains. As the horseshoe is about to be applied to the hoof of the animal two of the pads are plaeed upon tlielioof,with the strips C and the flanges .ll resting underneath the shoe, and the pad are moved forwardly and outwardly until the curved outer edges A approximatelycoincide with the inner edges of the/rear ends of the horseshoe, whereupon the usual nails are inserted th rough the shoe and through the strips C and the flange l beneath The pads being separate and mounted on separate strips may be mutually adjusted relatively to the shoe and Will accord with any proper shape which the shoe is given in fitting it to the hoof. Frequently one side of a horseshoe is flared relatively to the other, which latter may be slightly inwardly directed or its end somewhatstraighten il This frequently prevents the proper litt ng or shaping of the horseshoe in eases Whe-e pads are used or it neeessitates cutting onesideof thepad. Idoreover, different widths of pads must general at present be employed for various horses, or else either one pad must be made narrow enough for all shoes, which will '-.vith wide-- hooted horses leavespaces between the shoe and the pad at either side, making the pad operate practically only in the center of the hoof, which is quite contrary to what is desir-able, or alternatively a needlessly wide or maximum size of pad must always be ein.-

ployed, thereby necessitating the cutting and waste of the usual rubber in the ease of relatively narrow shoes. By the use ot' my invention, however, these disadvantages are wholly overcome and all the difterent sizes of hoofs or varied shapes of shoes 'require but one size or form of my pad, and at the same time the supports or cushions thereof lie close against the inner edges of the shoe at the roar, immediately beneath the frog, where protection or cushioning is necessary. The whole hoof being open eX- cept at the portions where the heel-pieces project and those which the shoe covers, free circulation of air and water is thereby permitted, and the hoot' may be stuffed at night and readily kept clean at all times. The flanges B steady the heel-pieces, and as the end of the horseshoe rests upon them Closely against the outer edges of the heel-pieces and rests also upon the strips C the said heel-pieces Willbe held in suliic-iently firm posit-ion.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Lett-ers Patent, is-

l. A hoofpad comprising rubber heelpieces respectively formed for the right and left sides of the shoe, comprising rubber cushioning-bodies projecting inwardly of the hoof to protect the frog, and a pair of separate strips or backings uiierefor, the said heelpiecer, being mounted upon the inner edges of the said strips whereby they may be adjrited to lie against the inner edges of the rear ends of the horseshoe with the strips beneath the same.'

i. Ahoof-pad comprising two separate rubber heel-g eee.l and respectively formed forv the right and lett sides of the shoe formed with segmental curved outer facings adapted to lie against the inner edges of the rear ends of the horseshoe and embodying a rubber cushion projecting radially from the ends of the shoe and provided with curved inner to form. oushions flared at the rear end and gradually deereasig forwardly, the said hr l-pieoes being provided exteriorly with integial outwardly-projecting flanges forwardly dared or widened, said heel-pieces and flanges being secured to strips or baekings, which with. the said iianges project above the horsesnoe.

ei-pieces respeetively formed for the lett sides of the shoe formed with ri eh t ar licinst the ir Y the horseshoe and embodying rubber cushions projecting radially' from the ends of the shoe and provided with curved inner edges to forni cushions flared at the rear and gradually decreasing forwardly, the said heelpieoes being provided exteriorly with integral outwardly-projeetin g flanges forwardly flared widened, said heel-pieces and flanges being secured :'-idividualiy to separate strips or baekings which project slightly beyond the i hoof-pad comprising two separate rub-l ITO forward ends of the said-heel-pieces and are i ence of the subscribing Witnesses, this 3d day -adapted to be adjusted independently beof April, 1901.

neath the horseshoe.to bring the hee1-pieees into Contact or coincident with the inner JOHN ANSON BUCK 5 edges of the rear ends of the horseshoe. Witnesses:

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as F. A. STEWART,

my invention I have signed my name, in pres- F. F. TELLER. 

